[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of Federalsburg 7-2-2001 by Ord. No. 01-10. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building Code — See Ch. 27, Art. II.
Property maintenance — See Ch. 151.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ABATEMENT
The removal, stoppage, or destruction of that which causes or constitutes a nuisance, whether by repairing, breaking or pulling it down, or otherwise destroying, or effacing it.
EMERGENCY ABATEMENT
Abatement of the nuisance by the Town of Federalsburg, or a contractor employed by the Town, by removal, repair, or other acts to render the property safe.
NOTIFY
To cause a written notice containing the address and location of the property, the nature of the nuisance on the property, a description of the actions necessary to abate the nuisance, and a reasonable time period for the nuisance to be abated to be served on the owner by personal service or by leaving a copy of the notice at the usual place of residence or business of the owner, or by sending the notice by regular United States mail and by United States certified mail, return receipt. If service is unable to be perfected by any of the methods described above, the notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town, once a week for two consecutive weeks and posted at the property.
OWNER
The owner of record based on the Town of Federalsburg's records or any person with legal, financial or equitable interest in the property on which the alleged public nuisance exists at the time of the violation.
PROLONGED VACANCY
With respect to a residential property, a residential structure that has been unoccupied for 120 consecutive days; with respect to a commercial property, a commercial structure that has not been used for a commercial purpose for 120 consecutive days; a partially constructed or demolished building or structure where work is abandoned for 120 consecutive days; or a damaged or partially destroyed building or structure where removal or repair has not commenced within 120 days after the damage or destruction. "Prolonged vacancy" does not mean a property that is actively being marketed for lease or sale and that is maintained in accordance with the Federalsburg Building and Property Maintenance Codes.[1]
PROPERTY
Any real property, premises, structure or location on which a public nuisance is alleged to exist.
PUBLIC NUISANCE
A. 
Any public nuisance known at common law or in equity jurisprudence, or as provided by the statutes of the State of Maryland, Caroline County, or the ordinances of the Town of Federalsburg; or
B. 
Any structure or part of a structure, tree, excavation, hole, basement, or any property or any part thereof that by reason of its condition is a danger to the health or safety of a person or another property or is a visual blight to surrounding properties. Examples of conditions that may cause a public nuisance are:
(1) 
The property is a fire hazard.
(2) 
The property is unsafe for occupancy, or use on, upon, about or around the property or constitutes an unsafe condition for a person who may reasonably enter the property whether or not authorized.
(3) 
The property is not sufficiently or adequately maintained to such an extent that it depreciates the enjoyment, use, and or property values of other properties in the immediate vicinity.
(4) 
The property has been in a state of prolonged vacancy.
(5) 
The property violates the Town of Federalsburg Building and/or Property Maintenance Code,[2] and such violations have not been remedied in a timely manner.
(6) 
The property is a threat or hazard to the general health and safety of the community.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 27, Art. II, Building Code; and Ch. 151, Property Maintenance.
[2]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 27, Art. II, Building Code; and Ch. 151, Property Maintenance.
A. 
If a complaint is made to the Code Enforcement Officer that a property is a public nuisance, the Code Enforcement Officer shall inspect the property. If the Code Enforcement Officer determines that there is a significant and immediate threat to public health, safety, or welfare resulting from the condition of a property that constitutes a nuisance, the Code Enforcement Officer shall cause the nuisance to be abated.
B. 
When emergency abatement is authorized, the Code Enforcement Officer shall notify the owner, but the abatement can proceed while the notification is pending.
A. 
If after inspecting the property on which the nuisance is reported, the Code Enforcement Officer declares the existence of a public nuisance, but the nature thereof is not such as to require the emergency abatement of the nuisance, then, regular abatement procedures will be followed.
B. 
The Code Enforcement Officer shall notify the owner of such nuisance.
C. 
The aforesaid notice shall further state that unless the owner thereof shall cause the abatement of the public nuisance, pursuant to the orders contained in the Code Enforcement Officer's notice, the public nuisance will be abated by the Town at the expense of the owner.
D. 
Any person who is the owner of the premises, location or structure at the time an order pursuant to this chapter is issued and served upon him shall be responsible for complying with that order and liable for any costs incurred by the Town therewith, notwithstanding the fact that he or she conveys his or her interest in the property to another after such order was issued and served.
E. 
It shall not be a defense to the determination that a public nuisance exists that the property is boarded up or otherwise enclosed.
Within the time frame set forth in the notice to abate a nuisance, the owner, agent of the owner, or individual in possession of the affected property shall remove and abate such nuisance or file an appeal with the Code Enforcement Officer as provided in § 155-5.
A. 
The owner or occupant of the property who has been served with a notice pursuant to this chapter may, within 20 calendar days after receipt of such notice, make a written demand to the Code Enforcement Officer for a hearing on the question of whether a public nuisance in fact exists or for an extension of time to abate the nuisance. The hearing shall be held within 14 calendar days following receipt by the Code Enforcement Officer of the written demand and at least seven day's notice of the hearing shall be given to the individual who made the written demand for the hearing.
B. 
The hearing shall be conducted by the Board of Appeals. For the purposes of this chapter, the Board of Appeals shall be the Board of Appeals established in Chapter 245, Zoning. Such Board may amend or modify the notice and/or order, or extend the time for compliance with the Code Enforcement Officer's order by the owner to such date as the majority of the Board may determine is reasonable.
C. 
The owner, agent of the owner, occupant and lienholder, if any, of the subject property shall be given the opportunity to present evidence to the Board of Appeals in the course of the hearing.
D. 
In those instances where the nuisance has been abated by the Town of Federalsburg, the Board of Appeals shall have discretion to waive the cost of abating a nuisance, in whole or in part, if, in the course of the hearing reviewing the decision, the Board of Appeals finds that any of the following did not conform to the provisions of this chapter:
(1) 
The notice to remove the nuisance;
(2) 
The work performed in abating the nuisance; or
(3) 
The computation of charges.
A. 
Should any public nuisance not be abated at the expiration of time stated in the notice/order or within such additional time as the Board of Appeals shall grant, the Code Enforcement Officer or a contractor employed by the Town shall have the authority to enter upon the property and abate the public nuisance found thereon. In abating such nuisance, the Code Enforcement Officer or a contractor employed by the Town may go to whatever extent may be necessary to complete the abatement of the public nuisance, and if it be practicable to salvage any material derived in the aforesaid abatement, the Code Enforcement Officer may sell the salvaged material at private or public sale at the best price obtainable and shall keep an accounting of the proceeds thereof.
B. 
The proceeds, if any, obtained from the sale of any material salvaged as a result of an abatement of a public nuisance by the Code Enforcement Officer or a contractor employed by the Town shall be deposited in the general fund of the Town, and any deficit between the amount so received and the cost of the abatement shall be levied as a lien against the property in question by the Mayor and Council and shall be collectible in the same manner in which real estate taxes are collected; however, any other alternative collection method may be utilized by the Town to recoup the deficit. Should the proceeds of the sale of such salvaged material exceed the cost of abatement, the surplus, if any, shall be paid to the owner of the property from which the public nuisance was abated when a proper claim to the excess is established.
C. 
In abating a public nuisance, the Code Enforcement Officer may call upon any of the Town's departments or divisions for whatever assistance may be deemed necessary or may by private contract cause the abatement of the public nuisance.
D. 
The Code Enforcement Officer shall, after completing the removal and abatement, file a statement of costs with the Town Treasurer.
A. 
Upon receipt of the statement of costs from the Code Enforcement Officer, the Treasurer shall mail to the owner of the property upon which the public nuisance has been abated notice of the amounts set forth in the statement plus an additional amount sufficient to defray the costs of the notice and stating that the Town proposes to assess against the property the amount set forth in the notice and that objections to the proposed assessment must be made in writing and received by the Treasurer within 20 days from the date of mailing such notice. Upon the expiration of the twenty-day period, if no objections have been received by the Treasurer, the Treasurer shall enter that amount in the Town liens docket which shall therefore constitute a lien against the property to be collected in the same manner as real estate taxes.
B. 
If objections of either the property owner or his or her representative are received by the Treasurer prior to the expiration of the twenty-day period, the Treasurer shall refer the matter to the Board of Appeals for a hearing to be scheduled and held on this matter. If, after the hearing, the Board of Appeals determines that the proposed assessment does not comply with Subsection D herein, the Board of Appeals shall so certify to the Treasurer and the proposed assessment shall be canceled, if, after the hearing, it is determined that the proposed assessment or any part of it is proper and authorized, the Board of Appeals shall so certify to the Treasurer who shall enter a lien in such amount as determined to be appropriate by the Board of Appeals, in the lien docket as provided in Subsection A.
C. 
The determination of the Board of Appeals is a final administrative decision and is not appealable to the Mayor and Council, but is appealable to the appropriate court.
D. 
Reduction or cancellation of assessment.
(1) 
The Board of Appeals may reduce or cancel a proposed assessment if it is determined that any of the following did not conform to the provisions of this chapter:
(a) 
The notice to remove the nuisance; or
(b) 
The work performed in abating the nuisance; or
(c) 
The computation of charges.
(2) 
The Board of Appeals may reduce the proposed assessment by eliminating the civil penalty portion of the invoice if it is determined that:
(a) 
The current owner was not in possession of the property at the time the owner was notified; or
(b) 
The owner did not receive the notice to remove the nuisance, did not have knowledge of the nuisance and could not, with the exercise of reasonable diligence, have had such knowledge.
E. 
If, after a lien has been entered in the docket of Town of Federalsburg liens, there is a written request of an owner who alleges that the owner did not receive the notice of the proposed assessment, the Treasurer shall refer the matter for a hearing pursuant to Subsection B.
F. 
The lien may be canceled or reduced by the Board of Appeals if it is determined that the owner did not receive notice of the proposed lien, did not previously have knowledge of the lien or of the nuisance abatement work constituting the basis of the lien, could not, in the exercise of reasonable care or diligence, have had such knowledge, and in addition, that the circumstances are such that a reduction or cancellation of the charges would have been appropriate had the matter been reviewed pursuant to this section prior to assessment. Upon receipt of a certification from the Board of Appeals pursuant to Subsection B, the Treasurer shall cancel or reduce the lien if required by the determination of the Board of Appeals.
The person who is the owner of the property upon which a nuisance was abated shall be personally liable for the amount of the lien, including all interest, civil penalties, and other charges.
A. 
Whenever a nuisance is abated by the Town, the Code Enforcement Officer shall keep an accurate account of all expenses incurred, including an overhead charge of 25% for administration and a civil penalty of $200 for each nuisance abated.
B. 
When the Town has abated a nuisance maintained by any owner of real property, for each subsequent nuisance that is abated by the Town within two consecutive calendar years concerning real property, owned by the same person, an additional civil penalty of 50%, minimum of $50, of the cost of abatement shall be added to the costs, charges and civil penalties provided for in Subsection A. The civil penalty shall be imposed without regard to whether the nuisance abated by the Town involve the same real property or are of the same character.
The procedures provided in this chapter shall be in addition to any other procedure or legal remedy provided by law. Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to prevent the Mayor and Council from commencing a civil or criminal proceeding to abate a nuisance under applicable civil, criminal, or Town Code provisions as an alternative or alternatives to the proceedings set forth in this chapter.